August 23, 2017

This week was one of darkness. On Monday, people rejoiced across the country with the morning eclipse as millions of people looked up through their special lenses so that they would not permanently damage their eyes by looking at the sun. Thousands of others most likely may suffer from some physical damage because they ignored the instructions to not stare at the sun without these glasses. Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) was one who ignored these directions—six times.

If you still have your funky glasses, you can recycle them with Astronomers without Borders. They are collecting these glasses to sent to children in Asia and South America in 2019. Mail them to the organization’s corporate sponsor: Explore Scientific, 621 Madison Street, Springdale, AR 72762

The joy from the eclipse was short-lived. That evening DDT gave his first prime-time speech to announce what he calls his “strategy” for the war in Afghanistan. After calling the war a waste for several years, he decided that war is good and President Obama’s attempt to wind it down is bad. DDT spent 27 minutes with the message that the U.S. will be at war forever but he can’t say anything specific. He’s turning over all the decisions to the military—those generals he earlier said are dumber than he is. Goading both Pakistan, which DDT says is not civilized, and India, who he says should give aid to Pakistan, DDT claimed both of them are the biggest terrorist threats in the world although neither country is on the travel ban. DDT refuses to appoint any diplomats and plans to vastly increase finances for killing people in the world and spending more money on “the nuclear.”

DDT clearly plans to loot Afghanistan of its wealth in minerals. Hamdullah Mohib, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the U.S., said:

The reason behind the speech’s timing is unknown although he could be trying to rescue is badly sagging approval ratings. The verbiage and approach were similar to that of George W. Bush when he declared his preemptive war. DDT had no new ideas except perhaps his goal to negotiate with the Taliban. Founder of privatized military Blackwater and sister of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Erik Prince, called DDT’s “strategy” an “Obama-lite policy.” Many people agree with Prince, but he may be suffering from sour grapes because he wanted to operate a privatized military in Afghanistan. Breitbart, run by the deposed White House strategist and white supremacist Steve Bannon, demonstrated hostility toward DDT’s speech by describing the proposed surge as giving in to national security adviser H.R. McMaster and the other national security officials. The Telegraph agreed:

“If Donald Trump sounded presidential on Afghanistan it is because he is repeating his predecessors’ mistakes.”

No mention was made of Russia, who may be providing physical support for the Taliban. With his speech on Tuesday, however, DDT now owns the wars in the Middle East, no matter what their results.

104,000: people killed in armed conflict since 2001, including over 31,000 civilians.

26,512: civilians killed after troop surge in 2009 (48,931 injured).

8,400: U.S. military members in Afghanistan.

2,394: U.S. military casualties, including the 44 killed after the official “end” in 2014.

22,100: Pakistani civilians killed, including 2,000-3,800 from U.S. drone strikes since 2015 and 40,000 wounded.

1.4 million: Pakistani refugees from violence.

$1 trillion: direct costs to war in Afghanistan including medical services for wounded veterans.

$1 trillion: federal costs for treating wounded veterans from military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan by 2053.

$4.8 trillion: total price tag for U.S. operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria since 2001.

$453 billion: interest as of 2014 on debt to pay for wars with another $7.9 trillion added to the national debt by 2053.

$110 billion: humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Afghanistan.

58 percent of $13.3 billion: USAID funds on reconstruction to only ten contractors despite complaints about delays and cost overruns as well as lies about improvements including students in U.S.-funded schools at 70 percent lower than these claims.

54 percent: defense share of U.S. discretionary budget with DDT’s request to increase it to 63 percent in 2017 and 68 percent in 2018.

The Fox network expressed great admiration for this speech contributed by DDT’s generals and read somewhat competently from the teleprompter. That was Monday. Last night DDT gave another campaign rally in Phoenix (AZ) to throw red meat to his ever-shrinking base. Any positive remarks from the media press—about half of them—could be summarized with the common statement that “Trump was Trump.”

DDT outdid himself in lying as he relitigated the media response to his racist remarks after the protests at Charlottesville (VA). His 30-minute tirade against the media completely distorted his statements as he read only portions of his reaction. Gone were comments about the protesters against racism, who he called the “alt-left,” being “very violent” and placing “blame on both sides.” DDT had frequently repeated the accusation of their being “very violent.” Also missing for last night’s speech were his descriptions of some white supremacist marchers as “very fine people.”

DDT’s threats:

Close down government if Congress doesn’t approve his wall. [Mexico must be off the hook for the cost because DDT wants taxpayers to pony up the tens of billions of dollars.]

Terminate NAFTA.

Pardon law-breaking former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the future. [DDT said he wouldn’t pardon “Sheriff Joe” at his speech because he didn’t want to cause any problems. “I’ll make a prediction. He’s going to be just fine.” Wink, wink. Left: Arpaio campaigning for DDT.]

DDT vigorously criticized both Arizona senators and came close to endorsing Kelli Ward over Sen. Jeff Flake in 2018 while bragging that he wouldn’t mention them by name. Ward ran against McCain last year. She sees chemtrails behind jets as a government plot to poison people, Arizona’s GOP senator John McCain as responsible for ISIS, the UN having an agenda to move rural people to cities, Common Core standards turning children into slaves, foreign powers sending troops to subdue U.S. citizens, “polio-like illnesses” from undocumented people shipped throughout the nation, mysterious helicopters spotted in Arizona, and martial law. [Maybe she knows DDT’s plans on the last one.] She also described her time on the Cliven Bundy ranch in 2014 to visit with the Oathkeepers as a “family friendly” event.

Another strange piece of DDT’s speech came from the careful placement of a black man behind DDT waving the sign “BLACKS FOR TRUMP 2020.” Maurice Symonette believes that “ISIS and Hillary race war plot to kill all black & white women of America.” He has a fixation with the evil Cherokees, beginning with a demand that they pay taxes and continuing that they are the “real KKK masters.” You can read his rants on his website. Another of his favorite websites. Symonette was praised by Glenn Beck, opened a Rick Santorum rally, and accused Barack Obama of trying to assassinate him.

DDT’s speech brought out open discussions on many media outlets pondering DDT’s mental instability. Even past friend and GOP Joe Scarborough (The Morning Show) joined in the criticism:

“This was a hateful, derisive speech. It was a frightening speech. He sounded like an autocrat trying to dehumanize his allies.”

Former intelligence chief James Clapper, who has worked for every president until DDT since John F. Kennedy, questioned DDT’s fitness for office, especially with his access to the nuclear codes.

DDT did not address the five injured and ten missing or dead sailors lost in the latest collision between a Navy ship and a merchant ship at any of his speeches. His first response when he was told about the tragedy was “that’s too bad.”

Today has stayed dark. DDT preached love and unity for all, including the military, both on Monday in his “strategy” speech and this afternoon at an American Legion convention audience in Reno (NV) when he signed a bill streamlining the appeal process on disability for veterans. He also sent a memo to the Pentagon to give Secretary of Defense James Mattis six months to enforce the transgender ban cited in DDT’s tweets, an act that leaders of the military branches oppose. Mattis will be in charge of deciding whether transgender service members are to be thrown out of the military. “This is NOT how you keep America safe,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), minority leader, tweeted. The ban reverses a one-year policy allowing transgender people to serve openly in the military. Five transgender service members, including veterans of recent wars, are suing DDT for violation of their rights to due-process and equal protection under the law.

The question now is whether transgender veterans will have any benefits. And whether immigrants who served honorably in the military will continue to be deported.